It was like a parlor game among scouts in the San Diego press box over the weekend: Who could tell the best Adam Eaton story?

The rookie center fielder made a quick impact in his first five major-league games during the Diamondbacks' just-completed road trip, but he's been opening scouts' eyes ever since coming into pro ball following the 2010 draft.

"I saw him make a hard turn around first base, hard enough to bait the center fielder," one scout recalled. "The center fielder threw to first and Eaton just walked into second."

"I heard he stepped into the box one time," another scouted countered, "and said to the catcher, 'Hey, how you doing?' The catcher didn't answer. He said, 'Hey.' Still no answer. Then he goes, 'I'm going to be a thorn in your ass all series.' "

"There was one game where he bunted three straight times to first base," a third scout said. "They were the three best bunts I've ever seen."

"He paid his own way to come to the Diamondbacks' pre-draft workout (at Chase Field)," said the second scout. "Some people were there at Friday's Front Row having lunch. At one point, Eaton was diving all over the place and playing the entire outfield by himself. Those folks at Friday's became his personal cheering section."

After clocking Eaton's time to first base at 3.83 seconds Friday night -- a blazing-fast time -- a scout raised an interesting question: "Just based on his speed and arm strength alone -- that's two above-average tools -- how did he last until the 19th round?"

To get the answer, we went to the Frankie Thon Jr., the Diamondbacks' area scout who signed Eaton out of Miami of Ohio, where he put up big numbers before the draft his junior year. Eaton's size (5 feet 8) certainly was one deterrent, but what else caused him to slip so far?

"A couple of things have changed," Thon said this week. "First, just his overall hitting approach. In college, he was a 3-hole hitter. He was sort of their run producer. I don't think anyone knew he was that fast because he was trying to drive the ball. There were 4.2s and 4.15s down the line. On the bases, you could tell there was an extra gear there, but he never had that jailbreak kind of approach he's had in pro ball."

Another factor, Thon said, was that Eaton was a right fielder in college, where Miami had another speedy, rangy player who was used in center. Combine that with scouts' uncertainty about his ability to swing a wood bat -- Eaton was involved in a car accident that prevented him from playing in a wood-bat league the summer before his draft year -- and it makes sense why he slid.

"In fairness to the other scouts, in fairness to me, I didn't know he was going to be this good," Thon said. "I didn't know he was going to run this well."

Thon knew Eaton might have to change his approach in pro ball. He believed Eaton had some power in his swing, but he figured he ultimately would have to learn to become a leadoff hitter. That meant going from a power swing ("It was kind of loopy and uphill," Thon said) to a "slap-and-go" approach.

"It's kind of scary saying, 'We're going to change the way you hit, and hopefully you can take advantage of the speed,' " Thon said. "Sometimes it doesn't work."

Judging by his minor-league numbers -- he hit .355 from rookie ball up to Triple-A -- the change was no problem for Eaton.

Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers has been a believer since last season, when he first noticed how Eaton had a penchant for being in the middle of things. Manager Kirk Gibson has bought in pretty quickly, as well. Asked whether he liked Eaton's style of play, Gibson said, "I love his style of play. Yes, I do."

Just like the scouts.

Reach The Heat Index at nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8680.

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